Tinsel reflector



Jam@ l, i924 3,479,037

B.E.FRANKE A TINSEL REFLECTOR Filed April 6, 1925 Patented am. i, ieaa atraen @Meer eterea..

' entren v stair BERNARD E. FRANKE, AOli? BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR T THE GEORGE v FRAME SONS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

l 'flitsen Ramecroix.

application inea april e, i923. seriaim. sacada.

To all fwhom t may concern:

Be it known that ll, BERNARD E. FRANKE, a citizen of the United States of-America, residing in the city of Baltimore, State of 6 Maryland, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tinsel Re'lectors, of which the following is a specication.

The present invention relates to a tinsel reflector for use-on "Christmas trees. rlhe reector consists of a mat of tinsel strips radiating from a central point near which point a small electric light of the kind ordinarily used for the decoration of Christmas trees is placed. v

As the tinsel strips constituting the rellecting materials are of metal, usually soft, noncorrosive, cheap, easily worked lalloy which is apt to be a good conductor of'electricity, the use of the tinsel in the immediate vicinity of the sockets causes short-circuiting and immediate burning of the fuse so that the 1i hts are, in manyinstances, extinguished a most as soon as the current is turned on. v

For this reason, the applicant who is a manufacturer of such ornaments, after considerable experimentation .with these relectors, was unable to make them commercially desirable until further improvements, 30 as herein described, were devised.

lt is of importance to note that reectors of this type, on account of the fragility of the material, are diflicult to produce in such form that they may be supported at the center on a lightsocket, as described, so that they will retain their position in the scheme of decoration with a reasonable degree of permanency.

inventor has devised and provided a central support which engages the inner end portions of all the 'radiating tinsel strips and which also engages the light socket supportin the tinsel strips on the light Socket or of a dou le washer, i. e. two centrally apertured d scs of brous material, vpreferably having insulating properties, the same being To meet the difficulties thus recited, the

bu b shank, insulating them from the socket securedl together with the central apertures in registration, the rad-iatinY tinsel members y having their inner ends isposed between .the outeredge portions of the two discs, and held between the discs, vpreferably byv a suitable adhesive which also holds the discs to.-v

gether.

lln the accompanying drawings, I have illustra-ted a reflector lamp and -lamp socket constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation showing a reflector, light and socket constructedv and arranged in accordance with my invention,

-the section being taken on a diametrical line and the light and the socket being shown in elevation; for convenience of illustration, the parts are .turned up slightly in perspective.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig.` 1 except that the outer ends of the tinsel members are broken away and that thelight and socket are not shown.

Fi 3 is a view of the relector without the light and socket, the same being-taken in the direction of the axis and substantially at right angles to Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings by numerals each of which is used to indicate the same or similar parts in the different figures:-

'llhe reflector 1 is composed of radiating metallic tinsel strips; 2 preferably of a soft, cheap, Inon-corrosive metal. The tinsel strips are held at their inner ends in a suitable support 4, preferably of fibrous material. 'This,as shown, is circular, i. e. in the form of adisc, and'is formed with a peripherally extending pocket, 6, to receive the inner ends of the tinsel strips to which they are held to the best advantage by adhesive.

The central support 4 is in the form of the invention shown and preferably built up of a plurality of washers or discs, 7, of fibrous or other suitable non-conducting material apertured at 8 and fastened together with the apertures inregistration, the parts being secured by means of adhesive ,or in any other suitable manner. The supportl is thus cen-w.. trally apertured, the apertured portion isis.

duly insulated and the tinsel-reflecting meml l bersare supported ina .radial position in relation to the lightbulb and bacllipf the' same, the intended assemblage of the apmi@ paratus, being that shank l0 oli the bulb lll, is passed through the aperture 8 and-seated in the socket l2, the front faceY 13V of the socket serving to position the reflector, supporting member 4, which rests on the socket, which socket and bulb shank are thus insulated from the metallic tinsel.

l have thus described specifically a single embodiment ,of my invention in order that the nature and the operation of the same may be fully understood, however, the spe-` cilic terms herein are used descr-iptively rather than in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What l claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. "llheI combination with a light bulb/and socket of a reflector composed of radiatin tinsel and a central holderfor the tinse consisting of a disc having a central aperture `to pass the shank of the bulb.

tinsel and a central holder for the tinsel consisting of a disc having a central aper- 'ture to pass the shank of the bulb, and

ineens? p holder. being apertured near the center of the reflector.

4. A Ghristmas tree ornament consistin of a reector composed of a mat of tinse strips so arranged that the tinsel members radiate substantially from a single center, means for holding and supporting the inner ends of said tinsel members, consisting of sheets of iibrous material secured together and to said tinsel members and apertured near the center or the reector to receive and pass the shank .of a light bulb.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland,

this 4th day oi April, 1923. i BERNARD E. FRANKE.' Witnesses:

Ponfrnn H. Finn'rr,

-Gnnsr Kanon., 

